"Ning Yu!" Before Mu Xue's cry could even finish, she was pulled backward by a tremendous suction force.
Ning Yu reacted quickly, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back forcefully.
"Hold on tight!" he growled, his arm muscles bulging as he nearly crushed Mu Xue's slender wrist.
Beyond the crevice in the rocks lies not a smooth path, but a narrow, downward-sloping passage.
The sides of the passage were as smooth as a mirror, with nothing to offer any leverage.
A surging horde of insects followed closely behind, emitting chilling hissing sounds that nearly overwhelmed them.
"Run!" Ning Yu didn't care about anything else and pulled Mu Xue down the passage.
The passage was rugged and uneven, and the two stumbled and bumped along the way. Their clothes were quickly worn out, and their exposed skin was scratched by the sharp stone walls, leaving bloody marks.
The insects poured down the passage like a black tide, their speed astonishing, almost catching up with Ning Yu and Mu Xue.
A foul, fishy stench assaulted my nostrils, making me want to vomit.
"Ah!" Mu Xue cried out in pain, staggering as she stepped back.
Ning Yu looked down and saw a black beetle, about the size of a thumb, biting Mu Xue's ankle tightly, its sharp mouthparts deeply piercing the flesh.
"Damn it!" A fierce glint flashed in Ning Yu's eyes. He squatted down and ripped the beetle off without hesitation.
Mu Xue's ankle was covered in blood, and the skin around the wound swelled up rapidly.
"Can we still walk?" Ning Yu asked anxiously.
Mu Xue gritted her teeth, enduring the pain, and nodded: "Yes!"
Time is of the essence, and there is no room for delay.
Ning Yu pulled Mu Xue up again and continued running along the passage.
The light ahead grew closer and closer, seemingly within reach yet still impossibly far away.
The hissing of the insect swarm grew louder and louder, almost shattering eardrums.
Ning Yu felt his strength rapidly draining away, and his breathing becoming increasingly rapid.
He turned to look at Mu Xue behind him and saw that she was pale and her forehead was covered with sweat, clearly at her limit.
Suddenly, Ning Yu felt his feet slip and he lost his balance, plummeting downwards... "Mu Xue!" He instinctively reached out, trying to grab Mu Xue, but only grasped at nothingness... "What... is below?" Mu Xue's voice trembled in the darkness.
The feeling of falling was fleeting; Ning Yu crashed heavily onto a soft sandy surface, kicking up a cloud of dust.
He struggled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his body, and immediately shouted, "Mu Xue!" The only response he received was the hissing of the swarm of insects and the continuous falling of black insects from the passage above his head.
"Mu Xue!" Ning Yu shouted again, his voice filled with despair.
He looked around and found himself in a huge underground cave with a circular opening in the ceiling, the very passage they had just fallen down from.
At this moment, the entrance to the passage was like a giant funnel, continuously pouring out black insects.
"Damn it!" Ning Yu cursed, knowing he had to find Mu Xue as soon as possible.
He staggered to the edge of the cave, trying to find a place to climb up, but found the cave walls smooth and steep, with nowhere to get a foothold.
In despair, Ning Yu's gaze fell on the stones scattered on the sand.
He grabbed a rock and hurled it at the swarming insects.
With a "smack," several insects were smashed into a pulp, but more insects surged forward one after another, seemingly endless.
Just then, a faint voice came from not far away: "Ning Yu... I'm here..."
Ning Yu looked in the direction of the sound and saw Mu Xue lying behind a boulder, her face pale and her body covered in wounds.
He immediately ran over and helped her up: "Are you alright?"
"It's alright..." Mu Xue smiled weakly, "My leg... seems to be twisted..."
Ning Yu examined Mu Xue's injuries and found that her ankle was swollen like a steamed bun, indicating that the injury was quite serious.
He tore off a piece of his shirt and used it to simply bandage the wound.
"We need to find a way to get out of here." Ning Yu looked around. The cave was filled with sand and rocks, and there was nothing we could use.
Mu Xue's gaze fell on a stick that was half-buried by insects. She struggled to crawl over, pulled the stick out, and waved it to drive away the approaching insects.
"Perhaps... we can use this to pave the way..."
The stick was swung through the swarm of insects, flattening many of them, but it was quickly swallowed up by the dense insects, like a clay ox sinking into the sea, having no effect whatsoever.
The number of insects increased so much that they almost devoured them.
Ning Yu helped Mu Xue back step by step until their backs were against the cold cave wall.
The light from the passageway overhead was still clearly visible, seemingly close at hand yet impossibly far away.
"It seems...we're trapped..." Mu Xue's voice trembled, tinged with despair.
Ning Yu gripped her hand tightly, his gaze resolute: "No, I will definitely get you out of here!" He picked up a stone and threw it at the swarm of insects again, his gaze falling on a shadow deep within the cave… "There…" he pointed to the shadow, his voice low, "It seems… there's something there…"
Ning Yu helped Mu Xue as they struggled through the sea of insects.
The light from deep within the cave drew ever closer, yet remained as distant as a mirage.
The black insects surged in like a tide, almost drowning them.
The swung stones could only break open a small gap, which was quickly filled with more insects.
Ning Yu felt his strength rapidly draining away, his arms aching, and his breathing becoming rapid.
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